Pets. How do they know?

Our pets get to know our routines. They know when it’s time to eat, go for a walk, go to bed, or enjoy playtime.

Every night my husband and I laugh over the same thing. If we are sitting on the couch, watching a television program, our dog, Riley, is curled up in between us. When my husband turns off the sound on the television, Riley lifts his head and is on what we call “high alert.” When the television is turned off, there is a clicking sound. The second Riley hears that click, and not one second before, he is up like lightening, jumps down from the couch, heads over to get a drink of water, then walks into the bedroom to go to bed. He does that every night. Without fail. And every night, without fail, we laugh about it.

I can understand that. That’s very routine.

But what I find really even more interesting is how Riley knows when leaving the house is either a “good thing” or a “bad thing.”

If I have his leash in my hand, of course, he knows it’s a good thing; and he runs to the door to wait for me.

But if I say, “Bye, Riley, be a good boy,” he knows he’s not going anywhere. He doesn’t even bother getting up from where he is.

And if I do not have a leash in my hand, open the front door, and say, “Come on, Riley,”… if the “walk” word was not included in that sentence anywhere, he knows it is not going to be good. He sits and stares at me and doesn’t move at all.

That happened yesterday. I think he knows that scenario only can mean two things… He is going to be boarded, or he is going to the veterinarian’s office. Yesterday it was the vet’s office. He has a little growth on his leg that he has been biting and licking. Antibiotics and Bitter Apple spray (to keep him from licking) and he will be as good as new soon.

The clinical room we were in yesterday, at the vet’s office, has two doors in it. The patient enters from one door, and the doctor enters from another. What I want to know now, is how he knows which door is which? And he thinks the door will open – to go OUT – if he stares at that handle long enough.

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Petey knows I’m going somewhere when he sees me dressed! LOL I live in my nightgowns at home. He whines till I tell him he can go. I have to wait till I’m ready to leave to tell him, otherwise, he jumps up and down & twirls round and round. If I don’t leave soon enough, he starts barking! It is a hoot how they know our signals!

Animals are very smart. My daughter’s cat would sit by the front door 15 mins before she was due home from work and wait until her arrival. My son’s dog knew when he was arriving in his car as soon as he heard the sound of it, or if you said my son’s name the dog would go crazy wagging his tail and get all excited. The cat we have now doesn’t like it if my husband or I go to the living room in the evening to watch TV and the other person is still in another part of the house because our normal routine is to go to the living room at the same time to watch TV. If I am in the office while my husband is in the living room our cat will come into the office and stare at me until I join my husband.

Oh, wow, I could have written this myself! Riley is the same way about the “tv” part of your story. He will sit here and stare at me and whine – and then go back and forth between the office and the family room, until I go in there too. Isn’t it just the sweetest thing?

Oh I loved this one. Isn’t it amazing how smart these little fur babies are! Wilbur is like that. He loves Lisa and the kids and knows when they are on the way to our home. He just all of a sudden jumps up on the coffee table where he can look out the window until they get here. Many years ago when Lisa was away in college she use to try to surprise me with an unannounced visit every so often when she found someone driving the 450 or 500 miles for the weekend; I always knew she was on her way home 20 minutes before she got there. She had a little peekapoo dog who would jump up on the sofa back and stare out the window for the 20 minutes before Lisa got home.